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News/Politics 1-20-15

What’s interesting in the news today?

1. Something to keep in mind as you listen to the SOTU speech. The middle class has already taken a beating under his plans, so why would anyone think his new plans will be any different?

From Yahoo  “Ahead of Obama’s annual address, the business community is expecting the president to press for passage of the Trans-Pacific trade treaty, though a debate rages within the Democratic Party over whether that would create more middle class jobs than would be lost to increased imports.

Others say he may seek more overtime pay for mid-level salaried workers, propose a higher federal minimum wage, or renew calls for major infrastructure spending.

Along with the tax plan, Obama has proposed expanded access to community college education and improved family leave policies, while some of his allies have called for an outright wealth transfer from the top to the middle.

For Obama’s legacy none of that may matter.

The forces at work in the American economy appear so entrenched that Obama may be remembered as the president who pulled the nation from its worst downturn since the Great Depression, but failed to arrest deepening economic inequality.”

I’d argue it happened in spite of Obama’s policies, not because of. Class warfare is not an economic strategy, but you’ll hear plenty of it tonight.

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2. Global Warming: The most dishonest year on record.

From TheFederalist  “Last week, according to our crackerjack mainstream media, NASA announced that 2014 was the hottest year, like, ever.

No, really. The New York Times began its report with: “Last year was the hottest in earth’s recorded history.”

Well, not really. As we’re about to see, this is a claim that dissolves on contact with actual science. But that didn’t stop the press from running with it.

If you follow the link I gave to the New York Times piece, you will see that this opening sentence has since been rewritten, for reasons which will soon become clear. But the Times wasn’t the only paper to start with that claim, and most of the headlines are still up. The Washington Post has: “2014 Was the Hottest Year in Recorded History.” The Boston Globe: “2014 Was Earth’s Hottest Year in Recorded History.” And so on.

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3. Is an attorney who sticks it to victims really who we want as the nation’s AG?

From NationalReview  “It should go without saying that the U.S. attorney general, as our nation’s chief law-enforcement officer, is expected to wield the Justice Department’s full powers to fight for those victimized by crime. It should also go without saying that federal prosecutors routinely make deals with criminals to secure convictions for other, larger crimes, or to save themselves time and the taxpayers’ money — and that those criminals’ victims sometimes come out the losers in such deals. Yet new evidence suggests that Loretta Lynch, President Obama’s pick to take DOJ’s reins from Eric Holder, may have gone beyond the accepted norms of prosecutorial conduct in her time in charge of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. Lynch’s office appears to have let self-professed criminals walk free in exchange for their cooperation with her office, watched impassively as they committed further crimes, and intentionally kept the victims of those crimes in the dark — denying them their chance to seek tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in restitution in direct contravention of federal law.

In April 2013, Paul Cassell, a former federal judge and law professor at the University of Utah, testified before the House Judiciary Committee, urging the committee to investigate potential wrongdoing by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in its handling of a stock-fraud case, U.S. v. John Doe. Though he didn’t mention Lynch by name, Cassell alleged that her office had failed to comply with important provisions of the Crime Victims’ Rights Act and the Mandatory Victims Restitution Act. The provisions require federal prosecutors to notify victims of criminal proceedings against those who wronged them, so as to guarantee them their legal right to pursue full and timely restitution against the accused. According to Cassell’s testimony, the restitution in question amounted to over $40 million.

The Doe case began just before Lynch’s first term in charge of the Eastern District. In 1998, Felix Sater — later revealed to be the “Doe” to whom the case refers — pleaded guilty to federal money-laundering and fraud charges in a RICO case, admitting that he had artificially inflated the price of stock he bought cheaply, defrauding investors and reaping millions of dollars in profit for himself. Then Sater, who has well-documented connections to the Mafia, apparently leveraged those connections to strike a deal.

In exchange for the government’s protection in keeping his case sealed and secret, the New York Times reported in 2007, Sater may have worked with the CIA, offering to purchase a dozen missiles from Osama bin Laden on the black market. He also reportedly provided evidence against the Mafia. When Sater was eventually convicted in 2009, the government argued vociferously for leniency on his behalf at sentencing, and he served no time behind bars. Despite having previously signed a cooperation agreement with the Justice Department acknowledging that he owed $60 million in restitution, he was given a paltry $25,000 fine and told to forfeit his house in the Hamptons.”

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4. How Boko Haram made people OK with slaughter.

From TheDailyBeast  “In the first few days after Boko Haram’s recent attack in the remote village of Baga, most of the news coverage I saw about it concerned the lack of news. Why, the media wondered, was the media not more interested? As many as 2,000 people had been slaughtered, a figure that, if true, would dwarf the number killed in Paris around the same time.

A big reason the Boko Haram killings haven’t gotten much press is that there isn’t much press there. Baga is extremely remote, with little or no cell service, and it is, by all accounts, a war zone. Nor is the Nigerian government cooperative, or forthcoming, about what’s going on: The military claims no more than 150 people were killed, including militants. President Goodluck Jonathan, who is in the midst of a reelection campaign, hasn’t even publicly commented on the attack.

But even if the western media had been more present, I’m not convinced the western audience would have been more interested. Because, at bottom, there’s a pervading sense here that what happened in Paris was decidedly not normal, while what happened in Nigeria decidedly was.

And normal, unfortunately, doesn’t make the news.”

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29 thoughts on “News/Politics 1-20-15”

  1. #4. I see in the Times-News that the UN isn’t taking this lightly. They have condemned the escalating attacks by Boko Haram and declared that they are undermining peace and stability.
    If they keep this up, Boko Haram may get s severe reprimand. That’ll show them.

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  3. I’m curious as to why the neighboring African nations aren’t more concerned about Boko Haram. Do they really believe these thugs will stop at the arbitrary border and kill no more?

    I find it all very disturbing. But, really, who should be policing Africa?

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  4. 1. The far Left doesn’t care about the middle class. They look down on the middle class, the suburbs and fly over country. They would prefer everyone was either dependent poor people or members of the elite. The middle class has to much of a tendency to think for themselves.

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  5. I’m trying to read Stonewalled by Sheryl Atkinson. It’s a very interesting book, but a difficulty read because of all the difficult and contorted political machinations. I’m convinced that we are being ruled, not by idiots, as some claim, but by smart and evil people who don’t care about America.
    And Hillary Clinton is part of the cabal.
    I recommend the book, but not if you have a blood pressure problem.

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  6. I meant to add that there’s lots of political incest going on. Obama’s deputy national security advisor, Ben Rhodes is the brother of CBS News president David Rhodes.
    That explains some things.

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  7. Chas,

    There’s way more than that. Some of this is over a year old, but you get the picture. Kinda gives you an idea of why the media gives him a pass on so much.

    http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2013/05/11/fox-abc-and-cbs-news-presidents-have-siblings-working-white-house-tie

    “RICHARD GRENELL: I think the media’s becoming the story, let’s face it. CBS News President David Rhodes and ABC News President Ben Sherwood, both of them have siblings that not only work at the White House, that not only work for President Obama, but they work at the NSC on foreign policy issues directly related to Benghazi. Let’s call a spade a spade.
    Let’s also show you why CNN did not go very far in covering these hearings because the CNN deputy bureau chief, Virginia Moseley, is married to Hillary Clinton’s deputy, Tom Nides. It is time for the media to start asking questions why are they not covering this. It’s a family matter for some of them.
    JON SCOTT, HOST: So they don’t want to bring embarrassment upon folks who, who they’re close to?
    GRENELL: Who directly are related to this story. Absolutely. They’re covering for them. There’s no question about it.”
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    http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/media-administration-deal-with-conflicts/2013/06/12/e6f98314-ca2e-11e2-8da7-d274bc611a47_story.html

    “Further, White House press secretary Jay Carney’s wife is Claire Shipman, a veteran reporter for ABC. And NPR’s White House correspondent, Ari Shapiro, is married to a lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, who joined the White House counsel’s office in April.”

    “CBS News spokeswoman Sonya McNair says the Rhodes brothers “have been careful to avoid conflicts of interest for many years,” including 12 years during which David Rhodes was a rising star at Fox News Channel and his brother was beginning his career in government (among other jobs, Ben Rhodes worked for Rep. Lee Hamilton, an Indiana Democrat, and helped draft the 9/11 Commission report). David Rhodes was vice president of news at Fox during Obama’s 2008 campaign and election when his brother became a speechwriter and later a foreign-policy adviser to Obama.

    Most news organizations, including The Washington Post, closely monitor the work of journalists with known or potential conflicts. (Full disclosures: The Post’s Justice Department reporter, Sari Horwitz, is married to William B. Schultz, the general counsel of the Department of Health and Human Services; the reporter of this article sometimes writes about CBS News and is related to an employee there.)”

    “ABC says Shipman, a former White House reporter, stopped covering politics in late 2008 after her husband, Carney, left Time magazine to become press secretary for Vice President-elect Joe Biden. She’s now the senior national correspondent for “Good Morning, America.” Shipman primarily covers softer topics for “GMA,” such as diet and fitness. But the ban on politics isn’t total; in April, Shipman filed a report on the “buzz” about former secretary of state Clinton’s 2016 presidential ambitions.

    Biden’s current communications director, Shailagh Murray (a former Post congressional reporter), is married to Neil King, one of the Wall Street Journal’s top political reporters. Gerald Seib, the Journal’s Washington bureau chief, says King remains on the political beat but doesn’t write about Biden. “We’re aware of the potential for conflict, and we’ve had a plan to deal with it,” Seib says.”
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  9. So the Mayor of Paris wants to sue a particular US network for their damaging false lies about Muslim “no go zones” in her city.

    Is the Mayor of Paris going to sue The Telegraph, too? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/8686504/Sharia-a-law-unto-itself.html

    The Washington Times and the editor of the Brussels Journal?http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2008/jan/16/sensitive-urban-areas/

    The Jewish Press?
    http://www.jewishpress.com/indepth/analysis/frances-no-go-zones-where-non-muslims-dare-not-tread/2012/08/28/

    The New York Times? (???)

    Newsweek?
    http://www.newsweek.com/europes-time-bomb-115189

    The New Republic? (?????????)
    http://www.newrepublic.com/article/120714/charlie-hebdo-attack-challenges-frances-treasured-national-identity

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  10. There’s always been some movement between politics and journalism, job-wise. But I agree there’s a conflict of interest concern.

    Interesting Breakpoint commentary on the clash of rights & liberties:

    http://www.breakpoint.org/bpcommentaries/entry/12/26716

    ” … Bruni calls ‘the deference that many politicians show’ to religious liberty concerns that are raised by same-sex marriage and gay rights ‘an illustration of religion’s favored status in a country that’s still working out this separation-of-church-and-state business and hasn’t yet gotten it quite right.’

    “Not surprisingly, he compares those raising the issue of religious freedom to segregationists whom, he is quick to remind his readers, also claimed religious warrant. He ends by saying that ‘I support the right of people to believe what they do and say what they wish — in their pews, homes and hearts. But outside of those places? You must put up with me, just as I put up with you.’

    “Of course, he supports no such thing. Bruni’s definition of ‘putting up’ with religious believers can be summed up in a phrase he is no doubt familiar with: the closet. …”

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  11. Fox News *in* the news:

    http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/20/media/paris-mayor-sue-fox-news/index.html

    “…. ‘Fox & Friends,’ for example, displayed an apparent map of the ‘no-go zones’ in and around Paris. On another show, a guest who was identified as a security expert claimed that Birmingham, England is a ‘totally Muslim city where non-Muslims don’t go in.’

    “Fox News anchors issued several apologies on Saturday for the segments. …”

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  13. Tychicus,

    Sorry about that. Your comment is up now. If you put more than 2 links in a post, the spam filter grabs it. SPAM usually comes with multiple links, so it’s for the best. Best to do multiple posts with 2 links each, otherwise it will sit awaiting moderation.

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  14. Tychicus,

    There are similar areas growing in Minnesota and Michigan too.

    But shhhhhh….

    We’re not supposed to know, or talk about it. Ignore the obvious, or bear the wrath of CAIR and the Democrats who represent those areas.

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  15. These are the areas where ISIS fighters are coming from too. But it’s OK, because the govt. is totally watching them or something….

    This is where sharia law will gain a hold.

    http://www.frontpagemag.com/2014/y-kerry-sara/living-in-a-sharia-enclave-in-americaslam/

    And

    http://townhall.com/columnists/joannemoudy/2014/06/30/embracing-sharia-law-americas-blind-spot-n1857088/page/full

    “As Christians all around the world watched Dr. Meriam Ibrahim Ishag bravely endure unthinkable horrors of her captivity, release, re-arrest and now tenuous future, Americans in particular can take away one critical piece of knowledge. We absolutely do not want any form of the barbaric Shari’a law introduced into our U.S. courts.

    Except it’s too late.

    Thanks to efforts by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Shari’a law is well on it’s way to becoming the new standard in civil court cases. As usual, the ACLU is playing the ‘guilt’ card and working against the intent of our First Amendment rights of free speech.

    Attempting to get the jump on Shari’a, many states have already passed laws prohibiting the use of foreign religious law in their courts. Yet despite strong voter support for these measures, the ACLU is fighting to get them all overturned. Oklahoma was one such state and – sure enough – in 2013 a federal court struck down their efforts, ignoring 70% of the population’s wishes that the U.S. Constitution take precedence.

    The ACLU claims it is necessary to consider religious law (Shari’a) when negotiating adoptions, custody of children, executing a will and/or settling disputes over private property rights, to name a few. What the ACLU fails to mention is that within Shari’a law, women are considered property and thus have no rights, which means they have no say in court.”

    ___________________________

    France fell to this years ago, hence the no-go zones. They don’t want to assimilate into an area, they want to dominate it.

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  17. Roscuro & Donna – (In response to last night’s conversation) –

    First of all, to Roscuro, those friends I’ve mentioned are extremely intelligent, well-educated, & involved in the world around them. I’m often very impressed by the depth of their knowledge on various subjects. They know that Libertarianism is not going to take over the U.S. & completely change the government, but they see areas where it can make a positive difference.

    Also, I think part of the point of Libertarianism, is not to do away with all laws & government, but to shift those to a more local level. Some are more extreme in their views, but our system of government would make it hard for them to change much.

    Here are some recent quotes from the Facebook page Libertarians for Jesus:

    “Does the Christian doctrine of the depravity of man lead to the conclusion that we need more government or less government?
    It is illogical to admit that people are morally corrupt but then to say that we need people to run our lives.”

    “I think that as libertarians we need to make clear that it is not out of selfishness. We want a society in which nobody harms anybody–not just one where nobody harms us.”

    “The rabbis say that there are 613 commandments in the Hebrew Bible (what Christians call the Old Testament).
    Compare that to the number of federal laws in the United States, the number of which nobody knows but is at least 3,000.”

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  18. To reiterate something I’ve said before: I do not consider myself a full-fledged Libertarian, but I am coming to better understand their views.

    Donna & Roscuro, you both had some good points that I will add to the ideas I am considering.

    Here’s another quote from Libertarians for Jesus:

    Quote of the Day
    “America needs fewer laws, not more prisons.”
    –James Bovard

    Any American who looks at incarceration rates in America and other countries should see that too many people are being locked up. It is actually very difficult to avoid in in a country where you can break laws without knowing you are doing so and when activities that are not immoral are made illegal.

    The late Charles Colson, whose credentials as a conservative and a Christian were solid, wrote many articles in his last few years about this issue. He advocated using the biblical model of restitution rather than punishment by incarceration.

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  23. Karen, there are certainly some issues that overlap for libertarians and conservatives; on others they will diverge

    Hopefully there will be a consensus candidate who won’t split the two too badly. 😦 Then it will be President Hillary, I’m afraid.

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  24. Karen,

    AJ here, but too lazy to log in…

    Here’s one of my sticking points. While the idea of “local level control” sounds good, it can be just as, if not more, overbearing than the feds.

    I live in an area surrounded by liberals. You give them more power and they’d be worse. Also, you can run afoul of the law simply by ignorant to local laws as you pass thru.

    We have/had that issue here with gun control. Federal and state laws are sufficient, and yet many dem run cities and towns took it upon themselves to illegally go beyond that. Local control run amok. You could be following state and federal law, and still be in violation depending on location. That’s stupid, and overbearing. Thankfully the state stepped in and the legislature put a resolution in for folks living in those places which will now cost the localities if they’re overbearing. But that took decades to get fixed, and Philly, Erie, and other Dem strongholds are mad, but they’re backing down because if they lose a challenge, they now pay the bill.

    Federal control has one big selling point that local doesn’t. Uniformity.

    I find plenty to like about libertarianism, but plenty I don’t as well. Just like with Republicans.

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  25. I suspect AJ’s last sentence speaks for a lot of us. I’d like to go back to registering as Declined to State, but then I’m unable to vote in the party primaries (and I most often do vote Republican).

    But … I find myself growing more weary of voices like Hannity who strike me as too knee-jerk.

    I am hopeful that there seem to be a number of younger conservatives coming up the ranks who can perhaps offer a clearer, more thoughtful vision for the nation. Right now, neither party is offering much (but neither are the libertarians or other 3rd party types, in my opinion).

    Seems like we’re imploding as a country. Which makes me think we’re just getting the leadership & talking heads that we deserve.

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  28. Is this the longest State of the Union speech ever? It was on the radio on my drive home — I stopped for groceries. And it’s STILL on now that I’ve flipped on the TV.

    Goodness gracious.

    I finally put it on mute. 😉 But I’ll turn it back up if they bring James Taylor out for a folk song moment.

    Two years from tonight we will have a new president. Let’s hope we do better next time.

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